One-armed fighter Nick Newell
has full support of Jim Abbott
BY JIM GENIA

ARTICLE REPUBLISHED BY PERMISSION OF
FIGHTLINE.COM

O

n January 26, retired Major
League Baseball player Jim
Abbott took to Twitter to
lend his support to up-andcoming mixed martial arts competitor
Nick Newell, saying, “Nothing can stop
you! Keep fighting, keep believing. We
are all rooting for you.” The young fighter
is undefeated as a pro, and was hoping
his impressive eight-bout winning streak
would eventually carry him into the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. That
is, until UFC president Dana White flat
out said, “Never, no.” Newell, you see, is
missing much of his left arm. Not that it
would matter to Abbott, who was born
without a right hand.
“I want people to believe in their ability
to accomplish things,” said Abbott in an
interview with Rebellion Media. In the
span of a ten-year career, Abbott pitched
for the New York Yankees, the California
Angels, the Chicago White Sox and the
Milwaukee Brewers. “I’m just rooting for
him on a personal level. To be honest,
I don’t know a lot about the fighting
world, but people reached out to me and I
became a fan. I’ve watched a few matches.
Since I heard about Nick, I’ve watched a
few.”
Abbott retired from MLB in
1999, and includes among his list of
accomplishments pitching a no-hitter
against the Cleveland Indians in 1993 and
working as a motivational speaker after
his time in professional sports. There is, of
course, the fact that he overcame great
physical adversity to excel at the elite level
– perhaps his greatest accomplishment
of all.

“Baseball was interesting,” he said,
“and the hardship for me was in the initial
phases of my career, just learning to do
things differently. But just because you
do things a little bit differently doesn’t
mean you can’t do things well.” He added,
“Baseball is unlike the fighting world. They
gave me the chance. I ran into roadblocks,
but at least I had the opportunity to do
things.”
It is that lack of opportunity that
strikes a chord with Abbott. As athletes go,
mixed martial arts competitors have to be
extremely tough. In Newell’s time in the
cage, he’s fought his way up the ranks of
top regional promotion Xtreme Fighting
Championships (XFC). In December, Newell
quickly defeated Bellator veteran Eric
Reynolds to become the organization’s
lightweight champ. With victories earned
both by way of knockout and submission,

Newell is clearly tough and has the ability
to be successful.
“I think it comes down to
determination and belief,” said Abbott,
speaking on Newell’s odds at success and
drawing from his own experiences. “Once
you get past that initial optimism that
you can find a way, then it’s about the
determination and hard work that you
need to succeed.”
What has gone virtually unspoken is
the question “What if?” What if, despite
his best efforts, Newell steps into the
UFC’s Octagon and gets beaten? In 2007,
congenital amputee Kyle Maynard, whose
arms end at his elbows and legs end at
his knees, was unable to get licensed by
the athletic commission in Georgia and
was forced to fight in a state that had no
commission oversight; Maynard lost, and
that loss overshadowed all the other fights
MARCH 2013 Amp it up! magazine